Houston Gets Healthy With 'It's Time Texas' Challenge

HOUSTON — The goal of a healthier lifestyle is a promise everyone seems to make at the start of each new year, only to fade quickly into the discarded pile of New Year’s resolutions.

However, there is still hope for a healthier future in the way of the 2019 It’s Time Texas Community Challenge

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner has already pledged to do his part to help by participating in the 2019 Community Challenge, when means Houston is in this together.

Houstonians and Texans are invited to participate in the free Community Challenge, a program designed to encourage healthier food choices and and an active lifestyle. The challenge runs though March 3.

“This is a daunting issue for Texas,” Tracy Walker, It's Time Texas Spokesperson and fitness trainer, told Patch.

The 2018 It’s Time Texas Community Challenge impacted more than 1.6 million Texans, drawing participation from residents in 209 Texas communities.

The Community Challenge, which was launched in 2012, has inspired more than 3,648,807 minutes of physical activity across our state.

Dr. Faith Foreman-Hays, assistant director of the Houston Health Department and a seasoned public health practitioner and academician with more than 20 years of community and coalition building experience, said the It’s Time Texas can be an important step toward better health over the course of a lifetime.

“A program like It’s Time Texas gives the whole state the opportunity to really focus our energies of becoming healthier and creating a healthful environment,” Foreman-Hays told Patch. “This just really kind of sets the stage for us all to do something at the population level, versus a personal level.”

The competition is tracked and measured via Healthy Selfies #CommunityChallenge and submissions to the Community Challenge website.

The website’s leaderboard will be regularly updated with new submissions and points earned, firing up a competitive spirit in communities across Texas.

At the end of the eight weeks, the winning community and school district in each size category will receive funds to put towards future health-related projects. Individuals will also be eligible for prize giveaways throughout the challenge.

Of course, the best prize is a healthier and happier community.

“This is a challenge the whole family can do, and it’;s a challenge because there’s a little bit of completion,” Foreman-Hays said.

Although the mere thought of changing your eating or exercise habits can be intimidating, Walker said it can be easier than expected, and they are things people already know.

“Take the stairs instead of the elevator, or choose the parking spot in the back of the parking lot,” she said. “It’s Time Texas works in the communities, in the work place, with individuals and through schools.”

There are free healthy resources here. To learn more about It’s Time Texas, or to registered for a healthier you, click here.

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